agriculture

Smart Yields is a 3-year old local tech startup with the goal of helping farmers work smarter. They're using 21st Century sensors and apps to give farmers better insight on ideal harvest dates and plant health. With recent funding from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, Smart Yields is now trying to make it easier for local farmers to comply with food safety standards.

Hawaiʻi Island is still drying out from record-breaking rainfall it received during Hurricane Lane. But as HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports prolonged wet weather could have a lasting impact on Big Island farmers.

Tis’ the season to buy local. Campaigns encouraging holiday shoppers to support local businesses are in high gear. But for one of Hawai’i’s few remaining locally-owned grocery chains “buy local” is a year-round effort, and has been for nearly three decades. What started out as a strategy to help the local workforce transition after sugar plantations started shutting down has now become one of the most successful buy local campaigns in the islands. HPR reporter Ku’uwehi Hiraishi has this story.

Agriculture theft has been a problem on Hawaii Island for decades. From a South Kona farmer whose coffee beans have repeatedly been stolen off her trees to the recently created position of County Agriculture Crimes Investigator, this series explores the people impacted by agriculture theft across Hawaii Island.

The recent hurricanes in Texas, the Caribbean and Florida are a reminder of just how vulnerable Hawaii is to disaster. That includes the islands’ food supply. Last year Governor David Ige called for a doubling of food production in the Islands by 2020. But is that a realistic goal? We get more from Pacific Business News Managing Editor Janis Magin.

People around the nation and world are using development as a community organizing tool. Change becomes a reason to work with others and improve their neighborhoods. Now, the UH Mānoa Architecture School is convening designers, government leaders, and community members to inject fresh ideas into Honolulu’s development plans. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports on the Building Voices Symposium and Design Competition set for Earth Day, April 22nd .

Today on Bytemarks Café, we’ll get an update on the XLR8UH Accelerator program and learn how it’s evolved. We’ll also hear from two companies in the latest cohort who are focused on the agriculture sector and find out what makes this sector so popular.

When Hawai‘i’s legislature convenes its next session in January, the state House of Representatives will have a new chair of the Agriculture Committee. Former chair Clift Tsuji of Hilo died earlier this month, and the new chair is also from Hawai‘i Island. He recently spoke to HPR contributing reporter Sherry Bracken about some of his policy priorities.

We’ll find out how the State and startup community are looking to leverage tech in the AG sector. We’ll explore how tech can disrupt (improve) the agriculture supply chain from the growing, to storing, to the delivery of product to the market.

Gov. David Ige has pledged to double local food production in Hawai‘i by the year 2030. To help meet that demand the University of Hawai‘i is expanding its “GoFarm Hawai‘i” agriculture program to Hawai‘i island. The program currently maintains teaching fields on O‘ahu, Maui and Kaua‘i.

More than two-thirds of Americans now own smartphones. The Pew Research Center says that’s up from 35% just four years ago. Starting next month, five million smart phones will be going to a group of consumers in Pakistan with an unusual story. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.

Summer is upon us and that means one thing for fruit lovers: mango season. HPR’s Molly Solomon paid a visit to an O‘ahu farm to learn more about this local treat.

On a one acre-plot of land, Mark Suiso has made the most of his backyard in Mākaha. That’s where he tends dozens of mango trees, some planted by his father more than 60 years ago. His business, Makaha Mangoes boasts more than 70 trees and 12 different varieties.

Coffee can be a challenging crop—whether it’s grown here in Hawai‘i or anywhere else in the world. And while local farmers are battling the borer beetle…in parts of Asia, the enemy is the weather. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture has released an agricultural land use study which provides information on the location of commercial agriculture activities statewide.

The 2015 baseline study updates the last survey done in 1980 and provides current information and maps of the locations of Hawaii’s farms and ranches. The 1000 page report published under contract with UH Hilo is intended to help the community to make decisions about agricultural land use in the state.

Hawai‘i has committed to an ambitious goal of using 100-percent renewable energy within thirty years. Part of that picture includes hydroelectric power. And a bill put forth by a representative from Kaua‘i would help increase the adoption of water power. From Kaua‘i, Scott Giarman has more.

On this episode of Town Square... The farmers' views of what's happening at the Legislature. Our panel looks at the agriculture bills still in play and growing attention- and what they could mean in practice for those on the front lines, Hawaii's farmers.

Invasive species are always a concern here in the islands. And while culprits here range from the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle to little fire ants, in New Zealand there’s another focus. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.

What kind of nutritious health products can be made from common backyard plants? We’ll find out as Bytemarks Café goes on location at Windward Community College to speak with Professor Inge White and lab assistant Nyan Stillwell. We'll tour the garden and learn about the new Agripharmatech program.